Factors of Influence for Implementing Curriculum Reform: An analysis based on a systematic literature review

Overview & Synopsis

To get an overview of the characteristics of the studies in mathematics education research that explicitly purport to concern implementation, we have conducted a systematic literature review. We report on a subset of twelve papers investigating and discussing factors of influence that are decisive for implementing curriculum reforms. Results show that curriculum change does not occur independently of a change in teachers’ concerns, beliefs, views, and images about the nature of mathematics teaching and learning. Also, the school’s support level and the innovations’ adaption to context are decisive for the implementation outcome. Design for evaluation of curricular reforms may benefit from explicating the supposed main factors of influence and design methods of evaluating their mechanisms.